Tag Archives: debt

$222 trillion? That’s the “fiscal gap” as recently published by the Congressional Budget Office. The fiscal gap is the most realistic long-term budget forecast that the CBO can make (and it’s known for using rosy assumptions about U.S. economic health). … Continue reading →

Thanks to my reading and teaching schedule, I’ve been unable to post much on current events the past couple of months. However, I simply must post a link to this interview with former White House budget director David Stockman. Stockman … Continue reading →

In Chapter 16 of Foundations of Economics Shawn Ritenour gives a detailed discussion of the economic impact of taxation and government spending. Government participates in the monetary economy because it is the most efficient way for it to secure the … Continue reading →

Every time I think I have finally gotten some real conception about the size of the debt mess our government has created over the last few decades, something comes along to prove me wrong. This time it was a post … Continue reading →

Washington Post columnist Robert Samuelson has laid out some uncomfortable facts that need to sink in with our policymakers before they do anything else stupid. In “The Welfare State’s Reckoning,” Samuelson points out that Americans who are currently scoffing at … Continue reading →

I haven’t posted on the debt problems in Europe in a while, but the continent is still in a slow-motion train wreck. Yields on one-year Greek bonds are over 100% now, a clear signal that the country is going to … Continue reading →

It was inevitable, wasn’t it? On Friday evening Standard and Poor’s confirmed what everyone already knew to be the case: the U.S. government isn’t as good a credit risk as it used to be. No more AAA credit rating, which … Continue reading →

I find that all sorts of momentous things were happening around the world while I was out of commission on the blogging front: another Greek bailout, political upheaval in Turkey, and a madman shooting up Norway, to name a few. … Continue reading →

When a budget like Rep. Paul Ryan’s, which has us racking up trillions more in debt over the next few years, is denounced as draconian and radical, you know there’s no connection between rhetoric and reality in Washington, D.C. Presumably … Continue reading →